India Vietnam Sea oil exploration deal

Time to teach those around South China Sea a lesson

By Long Tao

No South China Sea issue existed before the 1970s. The problems only occured after North and South Vietnam were reunified in 1976 and China’s Nansha and Xisha Islands then became the new country’s target.

Unfortunately, though hammered by China in the 1974 Xisha Island Battle and later the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979, Vietnam’s insults in the South China Sea remained unpunished today. It encouraged nearby countries to try their hands in the “disputed” area and attracted the attention of the US so that a regional conflict gradually turned international.

China, concentrating on interior development and harmony, has been ultimately merciful in preventing such issue turning into a global affair so that regional peace and prosperity can be secured.

But it is probably the right time for us to reason, think ahead and strike first before things gradually run out of hands.

It seems all the countries around the area are preparing for an arms race.

Singapore brings home high-end stealth aircraft while Australia, India and Japan are all stockpiling arms for a possible “world-class” battle. ….

Read more » Global Times

BHUTTO IS LONG DEAD BUT BHUTTOISM LIVES ON!!

BY: FAIZ AL-NAJDI

In one of his landmark public speeches Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had said amidst huge non-stop clapping, “Mein Aaap ko Hamesha Yeh Kahta Hoon Ke, Bhutto Ek Naheen Do Hae – Ek Mein Jo Yehan Khara Haey Aur Doosre Aap”, meaning “I have always told you there were two Bhuttos; one is me standing before you and the other Bhutto is all of you”.

LETS SEE THIS TIME WHAT INSTRUCTIONS JUDICIARY GETS FROM SECURITY ESTABLISHMENT AND HOW THE JUDGES REACT ON THIS!?

– Zardari signs plea to reopen Bhutto case

The former prime minister was sentenced to death by the Lahore High Court and the Supreme Court upheld the sentence in March 1979.

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari signed on Friday a reference which seeks to reopen the case of former prime minister and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was hanged on April 4, 1979, in Rawalpindi.

The execution has been widely termed a ‘judicial murder’. …

Read more : DAWN

How Democracy Can Work in the Middle East

By Fareed Zakaria

When Frank Wisner, the seasoned U.S. diplomat and envoy of President Obama, met with Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday, Feb. 1, the scene must have been familiar to both men. For 30 years, American diplomats would enter one of the lavish palaces in Heliopolis, the neighborhood in Cairo from which Mubarak ruled Egypt. The Egyptian President would receive the American warmly, and the two would begin to talk about American-Egyptian relations and the fate of Middle East peace. Then the American might gently raise the issue of political reform. The President would tense up and snap back, “If I do what you want, the Islamic fundamentalists will seize power.” The conversation would return to the latest twist in the peace process.

It is quite likely that a version of this exchange took place on that Tuesday. Mubarak would surely have warned Wisner that without him, Egypt would fall prey to the radicalism of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s Islamist political movement. He has often reminded visitors of the U.S.’s folly in Iran in 1979, when it withdrew support for a staunch ally, the Shah, only to see the regime replaced by a nasty anti-American theocracy. But this time, the U.S. diplomat had a different response to the Egyptian President’s arguments. It was time for the transition to begin. (Watch a TIME video on the revolt in Egypt.)

And that was the message Obama delivered to Mubarak when the two spoke on the phone on Feb. 1. “It was a tough conversation,” said an Administration official. Senior national-security aides gathered around a speakerphone in the Oval Office to listen to the call. Mubarak made it clear how difficult the uprising had been for him personally; Obama pressed the Egyptian leader to refrain from any violent response to the hundreds of thousands in the streets. But a day later, those streets — which had been remarkably peaceful since the demonstrations began — turned violent. In Cairo, Mubarak supporters, some of them wading into crowds on horseback, began battering protesters.

It was a reminder that the precise course that Egypt’s revolution will take over the next few days and weeks cannot be known. The clashes between the groups supporting and opposing the government mark a new phase in the conflict. The regime has many who live off its patronage, and they could fight to keep their power. But the opposition is now energized and empowered. And the world — and the U.S. — has put Mubarak on notice.
Read more: Time

Salmaan Taseer: assassinated on a perilous path – Dr Mohammad Taqi

Salmaan Taseer dedicated his personal fortune to the cause of publishing the unvarnished truth and the people’s right to know this truth. It would not have been possible for this paper’s editorial board to carry itself independently were it not for Salmaan Taseer’s personal commitment to not only this project but to the very freedoms of speech and expression.

“The sorrowful smell of the mist,

Lingering over the Indus,

Gentle waves of rice, dung and rind,

This is the salt cry of Sindh,

As I die let me feel,

The fragrance of tears”

— Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.

“It was a Sindhi poet, Shah Abdul Latif, who captured the forlornness of his country in this haunting verse,” wrote Salmaan Taseer in the opening chapter of his 1979 book, Bhutto: A Political Biography. I have read these words many times but had never once thought that the forlornness might get deeper than the deepest depression one could feel. But the assassination of Salmaan Taseer has left many of us even more devastated and depressed than what Shah Latif could depict.

I do not mourn Salmaan Taseer alone but I also mourn those who have been killed before him on the perilous path of speaking their mind, and those who will be killed in the future on this journey. Ayesha Siddiqa, Kamran Shafi, Nadeem Farooq Paracha, Pervez Hoodbhoy, Sherry Rehman,  and so many others are living on borrowed time. It is not a matter of if but when an indoctrinated bigot let loose by the deep state will get to them or, for that matter, any of us who decline to follow the rotten creed that it has been peddling for decades.

However, I have a feeling that Salmaan Taseer would not have wanted to be remembered with melancholy. His illustrious father, Dr M D Taseer, once said:

“Parwana jal kay dil ki muradon ko pa gaya, Aur shama reh gayi rukh-e-zeba liay huay” (Translation: The light-loving moth has died caressing the candle flame. The candle thus remains alone in all its elegance).

It is nearly impossible to accurately translate the above Urdu verse, which my father, Malik Rahat Ali, had quoted while writing Dr M D Taseer’s obituary for Edward’s College, Peshawar’s magazine Tajjali (light) in 1951. The obituary was titled ‘Aik raushan dimagh tha, na raha’ (an enlightened mind is no more). It is amazing how references to light and progressive thought keep popping up when discussing the Taseers and in the work of the Taseers themselves. Pakistan, and the liberal thought within Pakistan, is the candle that Salmaan and M D Taseer loved to the extent that to see it remain alight, they would dedicate their lives to it.

When thinking of Salmaan Taseer, two images come to mind. One is of a political activist and the second is of a patron of progressive and liberal thought. Perhaps senior members of the Indo-Pakistani leftist movement will recall that Dr M D Taseer, along with Abdullah Malik and Rajindra Singh Bedi had pioneered a liberal publishing house called Sangham Publishers in 1947, before the partition. I would not be wrong in assuming that the Daily Times and its media affiliates came into being due to Salmaan Taseer’s desire to follow in his father’s footsteps. …

Read more : Daily Times

Bhutto was Hussain’s follower. Hussain and his follower never die.

Bhutto Lives! – by Mohammad Ali Mahar, Austin, TX

There are some who are born with a personal charm. Others have the privilege of being born with a golden spoons in their mouths. Then there are those who achieve the best of the best education in the best of the educational institutions. A few people attain the highest of the high positions. Very few have a combination of the above. He was among the rare breed of men to have them all. He was certainly no ordinary man. He was Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

While interviewing Henry Kissinger, Oriana Fallaci asked who was the greatest leader ever Mr. Kissinger had the privilege of meeting (Interview with History). He rebounded the question to Oriana. Oriana was a great admirer of Indira Gandhi. She had recently done her interview. So, she presented Indira’s name. Kissinger did not agree. Shah of Iran. No. Castro. No. Tito. No. Shah Faisal. No. Nixon. Certainly not.

Then finally, reluctantly, she uttered Bhutto’s name. Oriana in a way hated Bhutto. Bhutto had her abducted from Karachi Airport – while she was on her way to interview Shah of Iran – to present his side of the story in reply to Mrs. Gandhi’s interview after the fall of Dhaka. Kissinger’s face brightened. He told Oriana that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the greatest leader he had ever met. He told Oriana that it was not just the oratorical qualities, not just the education, not even the political upbringing that were necessary ingredients for a leader. It was the combination of all those plus the statesmanship that was required of a great leader. With a smile on his face, he told Oriana that only Bhutto had all those traits. He told Oriana Fallaci that in his opinion Bhutto was the greatest of the leaders of the world.

In 1963, young Bhutto visited the United Sates of America as Foreign Minister of Pakistan. His schedule included a meeting with President J. F. Kennedy. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Kennedy was so impressed by this

young fellow that he told him that had Bhutto been an American, he would have been on Mr. Kennedy’s cabinet. To which Bhutto spontaneously replied, “Beware Mr. President. If I were an American, I would not be in your cabinet, I would be in your place”.

Kennedy liked the reply so much that before his death, he told everyone he met of the courage and wit of this young Pakistani minister.

Bhutto was sent to gallows 20 years ago. Some say that he died that day. I don’t believe that. Bhutto was Hussain’s follower. Hussain and his follower never die.

/////

Courtesy → : The above article was originally posted by Mohammad Ali Mahar on SANAlist on April 4, 2000.  After 11 years, here it is once again, as a tribute to a great leader who lives in our hearts even though his body is buried at Garhi Khuda Bux, Larkano, Sindh.

4th April 1979: The Black Day

April 4, 1979 Was The Day When The Founder Of Peoples Party (PPP), Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged at Central jail, Rawalpindi, and he is buried in Village Cemetery at Garhi Khuda Baksh, Larkano, Sindh.

تون ملئين تي ملامت ڪيئي
تڏهن ڦاسي تي چاڙهيو وئين
تون اڀرن جي امامت ڪيئي
تڏهن ڦاسي تي چاڙهيو وئين
تون بگهڙن سان بغاوت ڪيئي
تڏهن ڦاسي تي چاڙهيو وئين
مرڻ کانپوء ڀٽا صاحب
اوهان تي گل رتا هوندا۔
_سرويچ سجاولي۔

You were hanged because you cursed against the mullahs,
You were hanged because you led the weak,
You were hanged because you rebelled against the wolves,
There will always lay the red roses over you, Mr Bhutto,
after your death.
-Sarwech Sujawali., Sindhi poet of people/
Translation by: Hasan Mujtaba.